Poetry

“We may never brush our teeth together again” is the axis about which this poem by Jim Daniels turns. Surely we all have moments like this. Jim Daniels’ recent books include Eight Mile High (Michigan State Univ. Press) and Birth Marks (BOA Editions). He lives in Pennsylvania. — Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate

Brushing Teeth with My Sister after the Wake

at my kitchen sink, the bathroom upstairs clogged with family from out of town spending the night after the wake and the after — wake — cold beverages have been consumed and comfort food, leftovers bulging both the fridge and the mini-fridge. In our fifties, both half-asleep half-awake, we face each other. My sister’s smile foams white down her chin at the end of a day on which no one has smiled. We laugh. We may never brush our teeth together again. No mirror down here to see our haggard faces. We rinse, we spit. As we were taught.